The Night Has Come
by Conviction
Summary: She could feel the memories, near tangible in the pain that clouded the line between dream and reality. His arms around her, his deep laugh, the soft caress of his lips. First 2 chapters are tragic, but the 3 one has some sweet fluff. ArwenAragorn.
1. Chapter 1

ALERT: NEWEST CHAPTER HAS FLUFF!!! If angst isn't your thing, feel free to skip to chapter 3.

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The sun was rising. A world of soft light and warmth and promise lay outside the window. The gentle rays were spreading up the face of the city, brushing across the buildings and coaxing the flowers in the gardens to open with their gold fingers. The bronze shaft that fell through the window lay like a forlorn pool on the stone floor, like a candle in the darkness that cannot light the farther reaches and is swallowed up by the night. For though it brought light, it could not bring warmth. Not here, in this cold place. It was a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature, or the glow of the morning. A bird trilled outside, and its promise drifted inside: laughter and hope. Just beyond the window.

So close…

The tears rose in her eyes again, blurred her vision. She rose, numbly, from the warm folds of blankets and her steps took her across the cold stone to the light. She stared at it as it reached for her feet, washed over them, the skin awakening at the touch of heat. Her long, deathly white fingers entangled in the thick crimson curtains and in an instant she had pulled them shut, locking herself in shadowy grays. She clung to the soft fabric a moment. The simple movement had been too much. Had meant nothing, meant everything.

She wandered, lost. Her fingers brushed over the objects on the shelves, things that seemed to belong to a life so far from this place, one she could not even call her own anymore. It was empty. This room, it was so empty. Everything in it had a memory she could only remember with pain. And the pain ripped into her heart, poured out of her eyes It was never enough. It seemed that every time the tears came, unleashed like a pent-up torrential rain, they flooded into the deep places of what was beginning to mend, to numb itself, and reopened the wound, leaving it bare to the onslaught.

Her hands trailed down the sides of a carved dresser, fingers tracing the designs without quite knowing it. They found the silver knobs, cold beneath their grasp, and she gave a weak tug, all the strength she could muster, and the drawer slid from its place. The bundles of fabric lay there, folded in neat order, mocking silently the chaos her life had become. She brushed her fingertips along their surfaces, something comforting lighting in her mind. She pulled one out, slowly, an eternity of silent movements made by arms that seemed weighed down by al the world.

The shirt unfolded in her hands, slipping from its orderly state to lay spread open. She fingered the soft, dark gray velvet, drawing along the silver embroidery displaying the symbols of his house. She drew the tunic close, burying her face in it. The familiar scent filled her senses, and she felt the fierce sting of tears gathering in her eyes. The emptiness found her again, gaping wide beneath her unsteady feet and sending her tumbling down into it. She stumbled the five paces it took to make it to her bed and collapsed onto it, curling onto her side and nestling into the soft shirt, nose pressed close to inhale the memories that surrounded her. The past flowed over her as she lay there, the smell triggering the pain all over again.

She held in her hands some part of him, almost alive. As if he was still there. Almost. The tears poured over her cheeks, soaked the fabric pressed against her skin. She trembled as the anguish built, and sobs began to pour out of her ragged lungs as her shoulders shook. She could feel the memories, near tangible in the pain that clouded the line between dream and reality. His arms around her, his deep laugh, the soft caress of his lips, his smile when he looked at her, the way he made her feel she was glorious as the stars, the way he could practically read her mind after their long years together, and how at times they were still such a mystery to each other. The completely simple, utterly complicated way he had become a part of her during their lives, entwining with hers so deeply that she could not survive without him.

Meleth...

My love, come back to me. I need you. The desperation flooded up in her, wild and insatiable. Her dry lips cracked apart and she crammed the velvet into her mouth, catching it between her teeth and releasing the scream that had long been pent up inside, a raw ache that ate away at her heart, smothered by the thick cloth. I was not meant to live without you.

The world around her was unreal, a twisting, blurred nightmare that whipped by, cold and emotionless as the stone walls, drained of life and love. She closed her eyes and let the memories churn to the surface, dulling the pain as she slipped into the dream that was the past, remembering the warmth and joy, the seasons that they had known together. She could nearly feel his embrace, the warmth of his body pressed against hers, and the pain burned like wildfire, devouring everything. How could he be gone?

Don't cry...

His voice. It was almost real, almost there—breath brushing past her ear, a hand on her face, a thumb wiping the trails of tears from her pallid cheeks. Almost. She pressed her face into the tunic, into the bed, filled with his scent, with the familiar smell of him. The comfort of it was a knife, twisting in her gut and choking the breath from her. Taunting memories of a love that could never be whole, never be mended. A gaping emptiness.

_Once I scorned…_

Such a bitter price—she had not understood, until that moment. She had known it would come, but it was always in the distance, obscure and unreal. Death and an end to life. But until she held her breath listening for him to draw his last, watched those eyes dim in death, had watched the love dull and founder in a sea of nothingness. She had been a child, playing in an innocent dream until that moment.

She had watched herself die in his eyes.

_Once I pitied…_

The men of Numenor… at last she had understood, in those poignant, agonizing final moments, their desperation and futility. As she drank deeply of the bitter gall, tasted the bile that rose in her throat at the burning, acrid bite of grief, she pitied them. At the last, she understood what drove them to fight, to seek a path that would allow them to remain with those they loved, and not stray into the dark land from which none ever returned.

Death was not so bitter to receive any longer. A sob tore from her lungs, rubbing the back of her swollen throat raw. Drawing her knees closer to her chest, she sunk her nails into the pillow she still clutched with shaking hands. She didn't want to stop crying. Her heart ached, her tears soaked the cotton, but it felt better then the emptiness.

And, for once, the knowledge that she was a mortal was a strange comfort, a cold solace that soothed the burning sense of loss.

_Now… I wish for nothing more._

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sigh I love their story. So sad and so beautiful.

Hey, I got over two hundred hits on my last one-shot, and not a single review. That's just pathetic, guys. Somebody talk to me, it's sad not to hear anything back.


	2. Chapter 2

_I do not know if life is greater than death, but love was more than either - Tristan & Isolde_

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I remember this place.

Not as it is now, but as it was… long ago. I remember the elanor blooming and the golden leaves upon the trees and the never-fading grass upon which we trod together, when the world was whole and bright. The smell of the niphredil, the laughter and song amid the trees, and the lights of heaven above us as we danced.

But it seems so far away now, and the memory of those happy days bring no comfort, only sorrow and grief because you are not there to smile at the thought, and I have not the strength to do so because you are not here any longer. I am alone in these remembrances, and I find no joy in them because their heart is ripped asunder with this parting. And there is no longer any song upon the air, nor any merry sound to be heard in this forgotten land.

The winter has come to this place. Its legend of summer unfading shall become as distant as the leagues that lie to those who once dwelt here, and those that shall come and one day call it their own will hear but the rumor of the glory of old. But now the world has changed, and though much evil has been mended, and much good anew has sprung forth, many things fair and mighty have fallen, and been lost forever.

The shadow falls upon my heart. I am weary of this world, tired of the rising of the sun upon days which bring only grief because you are gone. I miss you so much. I miss when you would take me in your arms and suddenly everything in the world was alright. I miss when you'd smile at me in that way that was only mine. I miss your voice.

I was not weary yet of my days when you left, for they were filled with joy and life and beauty. But each moment that passes without you is an eternity filled with nothing but pain. I have gone on too long. And now death seems a small price to pay for respite.

The winter has come, and I cannot withstand it alone. I am fading, fading like this place. I shall be lost to this world, as the laughter that once dwelt here, and the spring shall never again smile upon my face.

_On the hill of Cerin Amroth when we forsook both the Shadow and the Twilight this doom we accepted_

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She stared up at him, marveling in the strength of his demeanor, no longer the child she had once known, the boy who had chased her in wonder and bedazzlement. A grave and majestic air hung about him, and the boyishness was gone from his features, hardened into a mature handsomeness. The years had taken their toll, stealing his youthful innocence, leaving instead a sureness, a firm manner of conduct and a proud tilt to his head that came of knowing both the honour and majesty of his lineage as well as the responsibility of his duties and the long hard road he traveled in order to reclaim his throne.

A shadow lurked in his eyes, as though haunted by the memory of fear and pain, though it was difficult to spy at times—she thought he hid it from her to protect her. He had seen and endured much since they had last met, had grown so much into a man, into a leader and a king.

They all sensed the coming storm of war, broiling restlessly on the horizon, felt it pressing on their hearts like the tense rush before the plunge—fear and adrenaline and determination. And in her heart she knew with a steady and quiet assurance that he would stand against the darkness, that he would inspire and revive the glory of his line in the days of old. The fire burned within him, a fierce and perilous charisma.

It was the flame that ensnared her now, danger and greatness, a hope and beauty made more precious by the trials endured to obtain them.

* * *

The flowers bloomed about our feet that day, as we bound our futures to one another, to stand as one in hope of a brighter day beyond the onset of the night. How long ago it seems now, indistinct and unreal, as if drained of color and distorted. I was another person, then, so young… caught up in dreams and fears.

But now, all I feel is cold.

The world consists of shades of grey and a lingering ache that will not be sated. I wander aimlessly through each day, plagued only by longings for what has been lost to me. I am old, I feel at last the weight of my years dragging heavily upon me, and the time in which years once drifted by so effortlessly now in a day scrape against my heart. I have done with this life. Never have I felt so frail, so easily shattered.

It is the end.

It is in my blood, in the steady throbbing of my heart and the soft fall of my breaths. An irresistible call, and an irrefutable knowledge. This land, this place, laden with memories of you and I and the life that once filled it, can hold me no longer. I have lingered long enough. It has broken me.

She stared down at the withered grass, the frigid winds blowing straight through her, sapping any heat from her skin. At last she knelt, this proud queen, the dirt seeping through the rich fabric of her pale, silvery blue gown. Everything was barren, sapped of color and vivacity, a brutal contrast to the recalled brilliance of the past. Even her memories were fading, streaked in the storm of her grief, growing more and more obscure.

_My love, I wish you were here…_

Her pale hands braced against the cold earth as her body caved in on itself, surrendering to the gnawing pain and letting it break free to wash through her. All around her the mallorn leaves were falling, drifting down to coat the ground in the surrounding clearing. Tears burned in her eyes but would not fall.

_I am alone. And there is no one to comfort me_

She lay on the ground, her face buried in the crook of her left arm, hair strewn around her, a black shadow trailing across the dim green of the grass. She almost imagined she could smell the faint traces of the niphredil and elanor lingering beneath her.

_Enough_

Black lashes closed for the last time over those empty eyes, still holding their dazzling silver hue, though the spark had been washed out of them. The icy cold of the ground crept over her, enveloping her in its numbing forgetfulness. The furrow in her brow eased into blank smoothness, white and perfect.

_Farewell_

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That's my take on the tale. Let me know what you guys think, I'm always happy to get reviews. And if any of you other people out there love the Arwen/Aragorn story like I do and have any grand ideas for a story/chapter that I could write, I'd love to hear your suggestions. 

Thanks for reading

Charming


	3. Chapter 3

Whoohoo, some fluff to make up for all the angst. Well... ok, so there's some sadness, but there's a happy ending!

Disclaimer: Characters belong to Tolkien. All hail.

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Turn. Face the crowd. So many people. Clapping, cheering.

This is a happy day. A glorious day. Today is a beginning, the start of a new age without the threat that loomed above the ending of the last. Petals flutter in a thick shower from above, whispering past to land softly on the ground. Like snow, soft and delicate. Beautiful. The people assembled in their finery, gathered from across the land; elves, men, a dwarf, and four hobbits. All happy, hopeful.

This was your dream. Not an end, but a beautiful, wonderful begninng. To most eyes the rough passage is over, and the days of peace had been ushered in upon the land. They look to the future, and to me. They were come to joy and peace beyond despair. But facing this crowd, my heart sinks, and a hard knot tightens in the pit of my stomach.

For you are not here.

Where are you upon this wide world? Or have you passed yet beyond its dreary confines to a place where your glory be forever unstained? This was my wish for you. In my love I sought to save you from my doom, from the ending that will come to me in too few years. I would not see your light fade. That is the measure of my love for you, that I would endure the rest of my years without you so that you could pass away beyond the darkness and shine always. That you would be free of the pain you should never have to know.

And that is the only thing that keeps me from drowning when this ache arises, something in me awakening at the faintest whisper of a memory of you. It drives the breath from my lungs and fills me with the depair of not ever seeing you again, never hearing your laugh, nor feeling you close, as though we were made to hold eachother. I remember... so vividly, and yet so dimly that I can't understand it. Your tears, the hurt that filled your eyes, pain that I had brought you.

You looked at me so pleadingly, like you wanted to break my heart with those deep pools of starlight. The cold metal and gem warmed at the touch of our hands upon its surface when you pressed it back into my hands with a stubborness that would not be gainsaid. I had never wanted to hurt you.

I brush away the thoughts, for they must be brushed away. They bring only regret, and pain. When I think on them the question always arises, the one I try to force away, rationalize out of existence. The question that asks whether or not I ever should have left you, left you forever, with no hope of ever meeting again. The question I can't answer.

I open my mouth and force my lips to form words.

_Et Earello... Endorenna utulien..._

_Sinome maruvan... ar Hildinyar_

_tenn' Ambar-metta_

Till the world's ending. An eternity away. But you would still be there, in eternity, as bright as ever. Grief is not a thing strong enough to conquer your beauty, and even the far reaching memory of your kindred will not cast a shadow upon your face always. Futilly, I wish that I could hold your face in my hands once more, know your warmth and security beside me, and the touch of your warm skin beneath my fingers.

I take several steps as the crowd parts. Legolas stands there, looking once more as a prince of his people, as I have not seen him in many days, with an elegantly twisted crown laying around his head. He smiles, coming nearer. He knows. I see it in his face, but then he smiles, laying a hand on my shoulder as I do the same. The look on his face is... knowing, almost... mischevious. He makes a slight motion with his head, and I look where he had indicated.

The world was frozen. All sounds have dropped away, either by the silencing of the voices around me, or merely because I can no longer focus on anything other then the banner before me, the symbols of my house emroidered in amazing delicacy upon its surface. Elrond, and many others of Rivendell, stand behind, but their presence is only vaugely realized as the standard falls away to reveal the bearer.

Her face. She looks at me, the one who has haunted my dreams, the face that I know by heart. She stands, frozen, as I am frozen, and a million things are left unsaid as we both stand, lost in swirling time as it speeds past us. Her father whispers something to her, and suddenly the world moves again as she comes nearer. She's so beautiful... that is the only word I find in my meager tongue. Beautiful.

Silver weaving, entwined above her brow, twirling down. Her eyes, endless depths of soft blue, locked with mine. I don't believe I could look away if I wanted to. She gazes up at me, a myriad of feelings in her eyes. I see how much she's been hurt, I see her tears, the bated breaths taken in anxious silence, the long journey to hope. It steals the air from my lungs, the way she looks at me, with that same intesity in her eyes, the same wanting, as rises within me.

She stops, and everything is lost in the stilling of her movement. She looks at me, almost... timid. As though she is uncertain what I will think of her. A flicker, a moment of uncertainty, and then her head dips in a gesture of honouring and respect. I have dreamed of nothing but this moment, wished within the farthest reaches of despair for what I had deeemed impossible: that she would come despite my words and actions. And this? Respect?

My fingers catch beneath your chin. Let me see your eyes, memorize your face, know the touch of your warmth beneath their grasp, look into the reaches of your soul and see myself mirrored there. You smile. You see it, don't you? The same longing in my eyes. A feeling rushes through me, as though I had been holding my breath since the moment I had left.

All heisitation, all doubt vanishes as I dive forward, capturing your soft, sweet lips with mine. Rational thought vanishes as your taste, the feel of you in my arms, takes over. How did I ever think I could live without you? Twirling around, entwined, together. Pulling away, your face, your laughter, embracing once more. I never want to let you go again.

Cheering, clapping. I realize that there are more people in this world then merely you and I. Somehow I had forgotten. You smile, and join me, walking at my side, through the crowd. Everything is a beautiful, glowing dream, like you beside me. I fear, almost, that I shall awaken, and this wonderous thing fade into nothingness, but still it would be worth it, for this moment, of the promise of forever with you.

You turn, smiling so brightly, and I lose myself in the shining depths of your eyes. No, this is no dream. No fantasy could ever capture such loveliness, for no memory of you was ever so precious. You are here, and you have chosen to remain with me, to whatever bitter end. For you love me. And today there is laughter.

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Once again, I beg for your reviews. That's why I post, to get feedback. Just wanna hear from all you beautiful people.


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